Dead & Buried

Small coastal towns have been luring people to their deaths since the days of Lovecraft.  And director Gary Sherman’s Dead & Buried (1981) makes for a great double feature with John Carpenter’s The Fog, both relying on a misty atmosphere and a secret conspiracy that spells doom for anyone who chooses the wrong day to book an overnight stay.

 

Dan Gillis is overqualified for his role as sheriff in the small village of Potters Bluff, but his forensic background comes in handy when a string of unexplained murders claim a series of tourists.  The perpetrators of the crimes seem to be the villagers themselves, who carefully document the victims’ demise with professional film equipment, then stage the scene as an accident.  The bodies wind up in the care of William G. Dobbs, the eccentric undertaker, who takes such pride in his work that he’s loathe see his creations wind up six feet under.

 

With a screenplay that credits the work of Alien collaborators Dan O’Bannon and Ronal Shusett among others, Dead & Buried keeps you guessing until the final frame.  There are some choice jump scares and a bit of gratuitous gore (added at the producer’s request), but Sherman’s film is an example of ‘80s horror at its best:  subtle, twisted, inventive and often quite disturbing.  The murder sequences, featuring dead-eyed villagers capturing the death from every angle under movie lights and flash bulbs, are a guaranteed goosebump moment.  

 

There are echoes of another Carpenter connection – Halloween 3 – but Sherman certainly takes a more humanistic approach, relishing in the creation of his small town characters, particularly Dobbs, played to the hilt by Jack Albertson in his final screen role.  The drama may get out of hand from time to time and Sheriff Gillis blind devotion to his wife is a plot hole only a married man could love, but Potters Bluff is a stop every horror fan should make…if they haven’t already. 

 

Speaking of which, the new 4K UltraHD / Blu-ray combo is Blue Underground’s third trip to the well for this title, and most assuredly their best to date.  Fans will understand this has always been a tough film to translate well on home video, digital or otherwise, with intentionally foggy visuals similar to the early work of Vilmos Zsigmond.  The 4K version handles it all quite well, adding some beautifully deep blacks to the nighttime photography.  Previous extras has all been ported over along with new goodies like a location tour, behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, commentary with Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson, plus a separate soundtrack CD and collector’s booklet.

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